Type Private, Co-ed Established 1926 Faculty 61 Founded 1926 | Religious affiliation(s) Episcopal Head of School Matt Byrnes Phone +1 203-830-3900 Lowest grade Kindergarten | |
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Founder Rev. Dr. Aaron C. Coburn Similar Danbury High School, Immaculate High School, Ridgefield High School, The Harvey School, St Luke's School Profiles | ||
Wooster school gala video 2016
Wooster School is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory Pre-K-12 school in Danbury, Connecticut, in the United States. The school was founded in 1926 by Aaron Coburn.
Contents
- Wooster school gala video 2016
- Educational philosophy
- General information
- Enrollment information
- Faculty
- Recent notice
- References
Wooster's four cardinal principles are simplicity, religion, hard work, and intellectual excellence. An Episcopal school, Wooster emphasizes community service and helping others. The school's mission is to "maintain a school for the intellectual, spiritual, ethical, aesthetic, and physical development of boys and girls of diverse backgrounds." Its motto is Ex Quoque Potestate, Cuique Pro Necessitate, roughly, "From each according to ability, to each according to need."
As of the 2003–04 school year, the school had an enrollment of 417 students and 56.1 faculty members (on a full-time equivalent basis) for a student-teacher ratio of 7.4.
Notable alumni include award-winning folk singer and guitarist Tracy Chapman; the painter Andrew Stevovich; trial attorney Cyrus Mehri; developer Marc Vandenhoeck; Zachary Cole Smith, singer and frontman of DIIV; and Neil Rudenstine, president of Harvard University for a decade in the 1990s.
The school has earned 5 stars on the "Great Schools" web site. It is a member of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and other prep school groups.
Wooster School is named for General David Wooster, who fought at the Battle of Ridgefield for the Colonial side in the American Revolution. The battlefield for the Danbury Raid is near the campus.
The school was the first prep school to actively recruit minority candidates as a "feeder system" for elite Ivy League colleges, such as Harvard University.
Educational philosophy
Wooster follows a liberal arts tradition. Self-help has been one of the fundamental principles at Wooster since the school's founding in 1926. This philosophy places total responsibility for the physical environment of the school on the students. Students are not only responsible for cleaning and maintaining the campus, but also for the program's organization and management. As students in the Lower School (grades PreK - 5) progress through the grades, they assume more responsibility for their classrooms and the Lower School building. Students in the Middle and Upper Schools (grades 6 - 12) are in charge at all times of the upkeep of the whole school.
In addition to self-help and volunteering, Upper School students meet the requirement of 100 hours of community service outside the Wooster community, which can be completed between the summer before freshman year and graduation.
Seniors in good academical standing may also participate in the Senior Independent Study (SIS) program the last six weeks of their senior year, in which they pursue a community service project or career interest as a job off campus. Upon completion of SIS, each student submits a written report and makes an oral presentation to the faculty and senior classmates about what he or she learned.
General information
Date Founded: 1926 – Rev. Aaron C. Coburn
Headmaster: Matt Byrnes, the tenth head of the school
Religious affiliation: Episcopal
Accreditation: New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Memberships:
• Connecticut Association of Independent Schools
• National Association of Independent Schools
• National Association of Episcopal Schools
• Cum Laude Society
Size of campus: 127 acres (0.51 km2)
Number of school buildings: 15
School song: The hymn O God, Our Help in Ages Past (based on Psalm 90)
Enrollment information
Enrollment: 354 boys and girls in grades PreK-12
Faculty
Number of full-time faculty: about 52
Recent notice
From 2001 to 2004, Wooster School made some improvements to its physical plant, notably the addition of a new gymnasium and a middle school.
The school is a frequent site of Toastmasters meetings.
Wooster continues to retain its reputation as a leader amongst Episcopal schools; the church's top educator award is named for former School Head John D. Verdery.
The school's library received a grant of over $6,000 from U.S. Senator Chris Dodd's office to improve its Internet access through the E-rate grants.
Wooster School students co-founded, and are hosts to, YRTA (Youth Reacting to AIDS), the first teen-run organization to increase awareness of AIDS and to assist persons living with AIDS.